A Forgotten Enemy
by thenerdnextdoor
Summary: The One Ring has been lying at the bottom of a river for thousands of years, passing into oblivion. When two unsuspecting creatures expose themselves, the Ring formulates a plan to rise once more and be reunited with it's master. One-shot. Just a little something from my English folio.


**So, this is a little something I made for my folio in English, and I just thought I'd put it out there.**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing to do with LOTR.**

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I have discovered that time passes excruciatingly slowly when you lie, forgotten by all who once feared you, on an unknown riverbed. The darkness surrounding me seems to consume me, ruining my sense of time, cutting me off from the outside world. It is occasionally contradicted by the colourful and lively organisms that reside within the river's murky depths. They pay me no heed as they journey through the rushing water. Why should they? I am naught but a whisper of past troubles and pain on the wind. Naught but a poetic line in an old song telling tales of forgotten days. Naught but a lost artefact, once mighty and terrifying, once feared by all living souls. That time, however, seems to have come to an end.

All these days and weeks and months and years that I have been lost, they have given our enemies something which must be destroyed. Something that, once discovered, can bring about the most dramatic of changes. They have given the once pathetically useless creatures a chance in this war; a chance that they will most certainly take. They have given them hope.

I know not how long this riverbed has had me imprisoned - though I fear the years have stumbled into the thousands - and I know not how long it will continue to imprison me. I only know that with each minute spent in its ridiculously suffocating innocence, I become more and more infuriated. I have been patient for long enough. Surely my master's servants have heard rumours of where I am hidden? Surely they have learned the location of the mighty Isildur's demise? That day was full of death, I estimated around two-hundred men who were guarding my new bearer to have perished – how that great a loss went unnoticed by our 'allies' I do not know.

Every day I explore new minds, trying my very best to find something to cling to, but most of the minds within my vicinity are those belonging to mere animals. My search becomes more and more desperate, and I no longer care what being comes to find me. Whether it is a Man, Elf, Dwarf or Orc, I do not care. My only wish is that I be returned to my master so that I can fulfil my true purpose once and for all.

Lazing at the bottom of a never-ending current mercilessly reminds me of how I was not made for this. I was made for persuading the other beings who walk Middle-Earth to join our cause, and destroying those who go against us. I was made to bring order over the world on the hand of my ever-powerful master. I promise myself each and every day, that the time will come when I am reunited with my master. The time will come when the world will once again witness first-hand how dangerously powerful I can be. When that time comes, I will make sure that no living soul will ever forget the pain and suffering I will cause them. I shall not be forgotten again to be a rumour on the tongues of disgraceful creatures who do not understand the subject of their tales.

I am painfully aware of the fact that my thoughts only succeed in making me more enraged and, frankly, exhausted. Remaining in the same place, only to be moved the slightest of distances by a passing fish or strong current has left me feeling helplessly useless and incredibly frustrated. I highly doubt I have even moved more than maybe fifteen leagues in the past thousand or two thousand years here.

I find myself once again tiring of the darkness that surrounds my mind when it is not linked with another's, and so begin my search for something more interesting. I find a nearby eagle and work on penetrating the subconscious wall all creatures possess. It doesn't take very long to break in - after centuries of doing the same thing I have come to perfect my ability – and I squeeze myself through the small hole I have made. I spread out within the eagle's mind, covering every bone, every muscle, every cell, until I am completely one with it.

I begin to see and hear as the eagle does, feeling the wind brush against its soft wings as it descends towards the small river in which I lie. The colours are alien to my eyes, they all seem to scream at me, blinding me in their ridiculously joyful presence. The noises I have become used to, although there are still many I do not recognise. As we breathe in, we are bombarded by a powerful wave of scents. I can deal with the sounds, but the sights and smells will take me a very, very long time to grow accustomed to.

We turn left, having seen some small mammal the eagle wishes to sink our claws in. The simple situation of an eagle bearing down on its prey brings me joy – it has been a long, long time since the days when I destroyed hundreds who stood against my master and myself.

We take flight once more, the eagle relishing in the feeling of happiness it gains from a good meal. Having already eaten, it seems to fly now for the sheer joy of it, curiously gazing at the ground far below. Our eyes suddenly come upon a boat a while down the river, and the eagle changes our course so that we head in the boat's direction. As we near, we see that there are two Men sitting in it, odd sticks with strings attached at the top of them are held in their hands. No, wait, these are not Men. They are smaller, but not Dwarves. They almost look like children, but they have a sense of maturity and depth of knowledge only held by those who have walked Middle-Earth for many years. I have never seen anything like them, nor have I heard any tales of them. As we circle above their boat, their joyous and cheerful laughter surrounds us. Happy: these pathetically defenceless creatures are happy.

The sudden need to spread fear and misery throughout the land overwhelms me as I begin to formulate a plan. An opportunity like this will most likely not come around for another thousand years. It is perfect. Give the creatures a mere glance at me and they will fall under my command. My strength is in no way limited, if I manage to influence one of these creatures enough, I am certain they will bring me back to my master.

When that day comes, when I am finally back with the only being worthy of my presence, Middle-Earth will once again learn how terrifyingly powerful I can be. Elves will flee this land in search of safety, Dwarves will retreat into their mountains, never to be seen again, and Men will inevitably perish. The land itself will surrender in fear to the ferocity of our armies and bend to our will as my master takes back what is rightfully his. This I am certain of, for none can withstand the might of the combined power of my master and I. We will not be stopped. We will not be separated. The creatures of this land will learn to fear us once again. They will learn that, together, the One Ring and the Dark Lord Sauron are a force unlike any other, capable of bringing the land of Middle-Earth down to the pits of Hell for all eternity.

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**To anyone who is following either of my other stories (The Phoenix or Emberling), I'm so, so sorry about leaving you so long without an update - particularly those following Emberling. School's started up again and it'll take me a while to get into the swing of things; balancing homework, writing, sleeping, and eating during a six hour period is harder than I'd like, especially when I'm used to being able to write all day. So, again, you all have my deepest apologies and I'm trying my very best to work on another chapter.**

**Might try and finish off The Phoenix before delving back into Emberling, because the former's only got a few chapters left, I think.**

**So hang in there, and I'll have another chapter out as soon as I can. Thank you all so much.**


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